密歇根新闻广播 挽救珩科鸟

 

Piping plovers² are little shorebirds, and they're an endangered species in the Great Lakes region. But they’re making a comeback thanks to conservation efforts and even some heroics.

Last year was pretty exciting for Mary Birdsong. She's a shorebird monitor at Presque Isle³ State Park, on the Pennsylvania side of Lake Erie.

"Previously⁴ I had only reported the presence of piping plovers, and this last year I got to actually watch over the first successful nest in more than 50 years,” she says.

Two plover¹ pairs actually nested at Presque Isle last year, but one nest was overcome by 50 mile an hour winds and waves, with the eggs still in it. Luckily, Mary Birdsong was on patrol and made a call to the proper authorities. Soon, she was out on the water with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

"The waves were very high that day, and we were just in a little flat bottomed boat, and I was holding the box of eggs on my knees and cushioning them from the blows of hitting the waves," she says.

The rescued eggs were transferred to an incubator at the Detroit Zoo and then moved to a captive rearing station in northern Michigan. The two viable⁵ eggs hatched into chicks.

Vince Cavalieri is a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and he’s the Great Lakes piping plover recovery coordinator⁶.

"Our population is still so small that every pair, every individual, really counts," he says.

He says the Pennsylvania chicks were among 16 hatched through the program last year. They were fledged and released in the Upper Peninsula in August, and one was actually seen by winter monitors in Florida earlier this year.

"We hope that bird makes it back to Michigan or somewhere in the Great Lakes to breed this summer," says Cavalieri.

Most plovers are still found in northern Michigan, and now, in late April and early May, is when they’ll start to arrive. But Cavalieri says last year was the first time the birds nested on all five Great Lakes in 55 years. He says habitat restoration has played a big role in young plovers finding and nesting on sites like Presque Isle.

A team of people removed invasive plants from the park that had taken over the shoreline.

"They like really wide beaches with a long distance to a tree line,” Cavalieri says. “They like beaches that have kind of a gravelly or cobbly substrate to nest in."

And once plovers find a beach they like, where they’re successful, they’ll come back. Cavalieri says it’s good news that there were 76 pairs of Great Lakes plovers as of last year, but the recovery goal is 150 pairs. That means continuing partnerships⁷ to maintain and protect habitat, and maybe a few more dramatic nest rescues like the one along Lake Erie.

Mary Birdsong says she was out there for six hours that day last year, and even though they couldn’t get the adult plovers to take back their nest, she says the experience was fulfilling.

"It was just filled with victory, a little bit of defeat, and just kind of exhilarating experience for me," she says.

The year was so memorable⁸ for her that she got a piping plover tattoo⁹ on her left ankle.

Kara Holsopple is with the environment news program The Allegheny Front.

1 plover   

n.珩，珩科鸟，千鸟

参考例句：

• He wondered if the plover was the fastest bird.他想知道千鸟是不是最快的鸟。
• American plover of inland waters and fields having a distinctive cry.美洲内陆水域和牧场的鸻，叫声特别。

2 plovers   

n.珩，珩科鸟（如凤头麦鸡）( plover的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The most likely reason for this is that male plovers outnumber females. 导致这种现象最可能的原因是雄性？鸟比雌性多。 来自互联网

3 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

8 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

9 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。